Bike Shorts
by Chiquinta
Summary: Just a collection of short stories... Updated 24 Oct 06
1. Fly Me to the Moon

Fly me to the Moon  
  
+++++  
  
It was a lazy afternoon in the firehouse. Chris, Victor and Cory were sitting around bored stiff catching up on the dreaded paperwork.  
  
Victor was especially bored. He'd had a great couple of weeks. Linda had given him a flying lesson for his birthday a month ago and ever since he'd taken flying up as a sport. He loved the adrenalin rush it gave him.  
  
Unfortunately for Victor, the flying instructor informed him last weekend of his pending retirement. He was the cheapest instructor around and Victor was saving up for a house for himself and Linda.  
  
So there he sat, wishing he was flying, inanely tapping his pencil on the desk as he thought about what he should write next in this report.  
  
Cory sighed. This report for shoplifting was so frivolous she wondered why she even had to write it up. Couldn't the shop owner just let it go, the kid only stole a candy bar. She felt like marching up to the store and paying the dollar or whatever so she didn't have to write up a report for the incident.  
  
Of course, it didn't help that a certain person was tapping his pencil continuously on the desk.  
  
Cory looked up from the report and watched him tapping the pencil, willing him to stop.  
  
Victor saw her staring at the pencil and stop tapping.  
  
Cory smiled to herself and went back to her report.  
  
Victor slouched in his chair aimlessly doodling on a piece of paper. He started off by drawing a whole heap of squiggles but on examining his master piece he realized that these squiggles reminded him of a plane so he went about artistically creating the beloved aircraft that he'd flown around in for the last month.  
  
After about two or three attempts he was finally happy with his creation and went back to writing the report…and tapping his pencil on the desk.  
  
Chris was filling out forms to renew her medical insurance. She WAS supposed to be writing out a report as well but was utterly fed up with Tc leaving her the entire task while he went out and played gentlemen with Palermo as some meeting in the city.  
  
She'd heard Victor tapping his pencil once before and it had gotten under her skin. She looked over at Cory. Cory just looked up at Chris and rolled her eyes.  
  
Chris dramatically sighed and leaned on her forearms on the desk and glared at the pencil.  
  
Victor noticed Chris watching the pencil and tossed it down onto the desk's surface with a clatter.  
  
Chris smiled and went back to filling in her forms. She had no idea why she had to answer so many questions. Does your family have a history of the following… with only yes/no answers. That was okay for her mother's side of the family but she had no idea about her father's side, being adopted and all.  
  
Victor ripped a piece of paper out of his notebook. For some reason the noise echoed through the firehouse and both Chris and Cory looked up at him.  
  
He started folding the paper into an airplane. When it was finished he gave it a test flight. He took aim and let it sail. For all his origami brilliance it floated like a bird before falling like a rock, underneath Cory's desk which she promptly stood on, crushing it underfoot.  
  
Victor sat back in his chair and looked disgruntled for a few minutes before he realized that Cory wasn't going to be paying any attention to him and went back to staring at the report.  
  
It just wasn't working for him today. He should be out flying. He wanted to be out flying. Even riding on patrol would be better than this.  
  
He picked up an eraser and started playing tiddly winks with it. Each time it clattered onto the desk one of the women would freeze, then when all was quiet again they'd continue writing.  
  
What was with them today, he thought. He picked up a pen and created an ink tattoo on the underside of his forearm. He wanted to get a real tattoo, something along the lines of 'I love Linda' plastered across his chest. He'd even brought the subject up with her and although she was flattered, she'd told him directly that it would be a bad omen and they might break up.  
  
The pen's ink flow started to diminish half way through his 'tattoo'. Apparently it didn't like writing on skin. He tapped it on the desk to get the ink flowing again.  
  
'Victor!' Both women said in unison then looked at each other and laughed.  
  
Victor rolled his eyes and made some smart ass comment to himself about it being 'that time of the month.'  
  
He took out his airplane drawing from before and put a happy little face in the cockpit, complete with spiky hair and cool sunglasses. For effect he put in a few clouds and a sun, also with glasses.  
  
He surveyed his work, quite pleased with himself, and unconsciously tapping his pencil against the notepad.  
  
Chris got up from her desk with a huff and walked over to where Victor was sitting. She grabbed the pencil from his grasp and snapped it in half before slamming the pieces back down on the desk.  
  
'Hey!' Victor said indignantly. 'Now what am I supposed to write with?'  
  
'You should have thought of that before.' Cory said with a smirk.  
  
Chris pointed. 'You have a pen you can use, but I guarantee you, if you start tapping that I'll shove it where the sun doesn't shine.' She went back to her desk and sat down.  
  
Victor sighed. 'I'm bored.' He announced.  
  
'Gee you think?' Chris said sarcastically.  
  
'Well I am.' He protested. 'My flying instructor quit on the weekend and just when I was starting to get the hang of it.'  
  
'Did he have a problem with you tapping?' Chris asked.  
  
She and Victor exchanged smirks.  
  
'Well, you know Chris can fly. Maybe she could teach you.' Cory said and smiled sweetly when Chris turned around to glare at her.  
  
Victor shook his head. 'No. Bad idea. Besides, Chris probably couldn't fly anything that didn't have a gun attached.'  
  
Chris glared, but then looked thoughtful. 'Come to think of it Victor it might be fun to get up in the air again. I'm game, unless you are too chicken.'  
  
'Me? Chicken? Never! You name the time and place and I'll be there.' Victor put the two ends of the pencil together and stick tapped them in place.  
  
'Ok. 7am Saturday morning, Santa Monica Air Field, hanger 32. I have a friend that owes me a favour.'  
  
Victor wrote it all done. 'Done.' He said with a grin and started tapping his pencil again.  
  
Chris picked up a rock that she was using as a paper weight. It had some fake gold or something through it, all Chris knew is that it was a rock and it was sparkly…and from her angle, she could get that pencil.  
  
She tossed the rock onto Victor's desk and it landed on the pencil, breaking the sticky tape seal Victor had so carefully devised.  
  
Victor frowned and held up his mangled pencil.  
  
Chris smirked at him and went back to writing.  
  
+++++  
  
Victor arrived at the hanger on Saturday morning 7 am sharp. At first he didn't see Chris, just Cory chatting with a grey haired man.  
  
Then Chris came around from the other side of an aircraft, pushing and nudging certain parts of the plane to make sure they were stable.  
  
'Now remember, it's not quite the F-14 you're used to. Just take it easy with her.' The man said to Chris.  
  
'Well in that case you should have given her a thicker skin.' Chris replied.  
  
The man spotted Victor approaching. 'So is this the poor pawn that'll be going up against our Nutcracker?'  
  
Cory grinned. 'Yep, that's Victor. Victor this is Ray. He's an old navy friend of Chris's.'  
  
'Thank you Cory. I'd gathered that from the nutcracker bit.' Victor put out his hand to the man. 'How do you do Sir?'  
  
Ray shook his hand. 'Sir, now I haven't been called that in years.'  
  
'Well if you didn't take off with the Captain's wife the same week you jumped off the ship in the middle of the ocean you may still be a sir.'  
  
'It's nothing on what you used to get up to Christine.' Ray answered getting an oily rag thrown at him for his troubles.  
  
'Ready to go?' Chris asked Victor and heaved herself into the cockpit.  
  
Victor nodded, then caught Cory's smirk. 'What do you know that I don't?' He asked her.  
  
She just grinned. 'Have a good time up there.' She and Ray went to sit in some beach chairs set up near an esky.  
  
Victor climbed into the other seat in the cockpit.  
  
'Do you know how to take off and land yet?' Chris asked fiddling with dials in front of her.  
  
'Hey, I'm good but I'm not that good.' He was wondering what torture Chris was going to put him through. No doubt she had some scheme cooked up for him.  
  
'Fine.'  
  
Fine? He thought. Not, well today is your lucky day, you'll be given a crash course in landing.  
  
Chris started up the engines and let them roar for a while before taxiing to the runway, just to soak up the feeling. She didn't like to admit it too often but she did miss flying.  
  
Victor sat there wondering what was taking so long. What was she doing? He nearly jumped out of his skin when the plane started moving.  
  
The plane rolled out of the hanger and down the road to the runway.  
  
At the end of the long strip Chris cranked the engines. The plane started going faster and faster until the wheels lifted and they were airborne.  
  
When they were a few hundred feet in the air Victor hear Chris's voice over the radio system. 'Now you take over. You can do this right?'  
  
Victor scoffed. 'I'm a pro at level flying.'  
  
Chris just laughed.  
  
It was true though. While Victor was behind the stick all they did was fly level in a straight line.  
  
'Ok, now turn her around else you'll end up in a restricted zone. They don't like it if you fly to close to skyscrapers.' Chris said.  
  
'Then you'd better take over.' He said. 'I never learned how to turn.' He could almost feel Chris rolling her eyes.  
  
'It's easy. Just gently push the stick to the direction you want the plane to go…unless of course you're too much of a wimp to give something new a go.'  
  
'Whatever.' He said and pushed the stick. To his surprise, the plane actually turned without rolling or anything. He did it right! He was so proud of himself.  
  
They circled the airfield a few more times before it was time to land the plane.  
  
'Tell me you aren't going to make me do this.' Victor said as Chris lined up the plane.  
  
'No thank you. I value my life.' Was her response. The plane started to descend.  
  
About 150 feet from the ground Victor decided he might try to scare Chris. We're all gonna die!' He yelled out.  
  
The plane started to rise again.  
  
'What are you doing?' Victor asked half-panicked. 'I was just kidding you know.'  
  
'Yeah but I realised that I'm not going to be flying again any time soon so I thought I might have a little fun.'  
  
'Fun?' He asked. 'And what is your idea of fun? You know, I saw 'Rat Race'. You aren't planning on dropping in on any ex boyfriends are you?'  
  
Chris laughed. 'No, I'd probably end up with a nice fine for doing that, however…'  
  
The plane banked suddenly and before he knew it, Victor was flying through the air strapped to a torpedo. 'What the hell are you doing!' He yelled.  
  
'You don't trust me Victor?' Chris asked innocently as the plane stopped spinning and just cruised through the air, upside down.  
  
'If I say yes will you put the plane up the right way?' He asked holding his head so it stopped feeling like it was floating away.  
  
'But where's the fun in that?' She righted the plane for about three seconds before putting the nose in the air so the plane did a back flip of sorts. They went upside down again before nose diving towards the ground. She pulled the plane up just in time and it climbed almost vertically back into the sky.  
  
'I think I'm going to be sick.' Victor groaned as the plane started to spin like a torpedo again.  
  
'You are such a baby.' Chris said levelling off the plane and turning it around for the runway again.  
  
This time as she descended to the runway there was no smart remarks from Victor. In fact there wasn't a sound heard from him until they'd landed and taxied back to the hanger where he quickly climbed out of the plane and dashed around to side of the hanger to throw up.  
  
Ray just shook his head and Chris jumped down from the side of the plane. Cory grinned and came over to her. 'You are bad!'  
  
'Amen to that sister.' Chris said. 


	2. Basic Training

Just a slight AU and please note, the characters a fairly young still

* * *

**Basic Training**  
  
She smiled to herself as she watched him. 

He stood at the front of the room only metres in front of her, his large hands wrapped around the notes he'd so carefully prepared for the occasion. His deep voice filled the silence of the room and filled her ears like a sweet melody.

The uniform he wore fitted like a glove and outlined his rippling muscles as he passed around handouts to the class.

As he approached she felt the butterflies in her stomach take flight.

"Thank you." Her voice emerged huskily as she received her paper. Their hands touched as she took the paper and electricity flowed between them. He smiled shyly at her as he continued to the back of the room.

She turned to catch a glimpse of his backside, clearly visible through the spandex of his shorts. She signed happily to herself; then heard giggles from some other women in her class who were looking at the same thing she was – spandex! She rolled her eyes, screwed up her handout and threw it at the offending women. They stopped giggling and looked at her as the paper ball hit one of them in the head. She threw them a steely glare with ten times more force than she'd thrown the paper.

After handing out sheets to everyone else he made his way back to the front of the room, discreetly slipping her another sheet on the way through.

The rest of the session felt like it was being directed at her, his soft brown eyes barely leaving the deep blue depths of hers.

Chris nearly cried when the class was over and the usual teacher walked back into the classroom. 'Thank you Officer Callaway for sharing your valuable on the job experience with us today.' Tc simply nodded and left the classroom.

The teacher decided to keep the class for a moment longer and prattle on about some irrelevant form of assessment happening next week that would account for 30% of their marks but Chris wasn't at all interested. She was nearly bouncing in her chair, hoping that the teacher would get the message and let them out of this room.

When they were finally dismissed Chris left from her chair and bolted out of the room but the gorgeous Officer Callaway was no where to be found.

* * *

Chris walked into her new post with uneasiness. It was always a bit daunting coming into a new environment with new people and a new work culture. What made it difficult was that this post required her to ride a bike for a living. She'd been posted to the bike patrol after her graduation from the academy.

"Chris Kelly right?" A man came up to her. His brown eyes staring intently into hers, his deep voice ringing in her ears.

"That's right, and you are?" She said, extending her hand, her heart a flutter. He took her hand and just held it.

"Officer Callaway. Welcome to Bike- 101, basic training."


	3. She Drives Me Crazy!

**She Drives Me Crazy!**

* * *

'Are you sure you want to do this Tc?' Chris asked as he drove.  
  
'You wanted to sort things out between us and therapy is a good way for that to happen.' He kept his eyes on the road instead of his wife's uneasy face.  
  
'I know but couldn't we do this another way? Why can't we just tell each other the problem without involving a therapist? What's he going to get out of us that we can't say ourselves?' Chris examined her fingernails. After this, she and Cory were going to have to get together and have a shop-n-sympathy afternoon.  
  
'For starters it is a she not a he and it's not what we have to say to each other; it's about how we say it. Most couples have problems with communicating and hopefully these sessions will help us?'  
  
'Sessions? As in plural? I don't know Tc, I can't keep taking time off work for therapy. They'll think I'm crazy.' Chris had just laded a posting at the Los Angeles branch of the FBI and wanted to keep the good impression she'd made on her colleagues.  
  
'It isn't a psychologist Chris, it's a couple's therapist and they won't think you're crazy.' Tc turned into a car lot next to a business centre that contained the therapist's clinic as well as a few other businesses such as a nail technician, coffee shop and accountant.  
  
Tc locked up the car while Chris checked the directory to find the right floor. He had to run to catch up as she'd already found the floor and was disappearing into the elevator.  
  
'How long do you think this will take?' She asked him and looked at her watch.  
  
'The appointment goes for an hour.'  
  
'A whole hour?' Chris whined.  
  
He shrugged. 'It's the standard appointment time.'  
  
'That won't leave ME much time though.'  
  
'For what?'  
  
'Shopping.' She said, then put a hand on his shoulder. 'Oh, I forgot to tell you, I invited Sal and his wife over for dinner tonight.'  
  
'Tonight? I was supposed to be going out tonight. Cory entered Emily into a baby show at the shopping centre and asked if I wanted to go.'  
  
The elevator chimed as they reached the floor. Chris got out and continued their conversation. 'You forget Tc, the baby was Will's. You don't have a responsibility to this child.'  
  
'I know that but Cory's our friend and her daughter is in a contest and wanted us to come for support.'  
  
'To show off more likely. Besides, I'm still making friends here and Sal is like the inner circle around the office and if you really want to have a baby fix they're bringing their two year old son with them so you can giggle and coo over him as much as you like.'  
  
Chris made her way over to the reception desk. 'Hi, Chris Kelly.' She said to the girl behind the desk. 'We have a two o'clock appointment.'  
  
The girl flicked through the appointment book before her. 'Chris and Tc Callaway?'  
  
Chris nodded then rolled her eyes to Tc when the girl wasn't looking. Tc was glad the girl hadn't been paying attention to his wife and thus didn't bear the brunt of Chris's obvious bad mood.  
  
'Carol is with her previous appointment. She won't be long if you'd like to take a seat.'  
  
Chris smiled to the girl and went and sat in the waiting area. She picked up a magazine and flicked through it.  
  
Tc sat next to her and trailed his touch down her arm in the hope of capturing her hand in his.  
  
Chris just looked at his hand then to his face. 'What?' She asked.  
  
'I just thought I could hold your hand. That's all.' He said.  
  
'Tc, if we were lovey-dovey holding hands we wouldn't be at a couple's therapist would we?'  
  
Tc withdrew his hand and stared at various items around the room to pass the time.  
  
Before too long a couple came out of the appointment room laughing. The man with his arm around the woman's waist. Tc watched as the woman complimented her partner on being sweet as he opened the door for her on the way out.  
  
'Tc and Chris?' Carol Roxton the therapist called them into her office.  
  
Chris got to her feet and deposited the magazine in Tc's lap on the way into the office. Tc sighed to himself and put the magazine back on the table with the others and followed her.  
  
Tc found the office rather daunting. There were three heavily padded chairs. Two in separate corners and the other against the opposite wall making up a triangle. All three chairs faced the centre of the room.  
  
Chris sat down in one corner and Carol had taken the chair backing onto the wall. Tc noticed that there were various pictures of happy couples adorning the walls.  
  
Tc took his seat in the corner opposite to Chris. She was already looking at her watch.  
  
Carol Roxton folded her hands in her lap. 'Let's get started shall we.' She said in a soft, soothing tone and Tc only guessed was a put on. 'Tell me about the two of you.'  
  
Tc opened his mouth to speak but Chris talked over him. 'Well I started out in the Navy and moved to the police force and from there went to the FBI.'  
  
'Now Chris, I'm sure your relationship isn't all about your career.' Carol said, still in that soothing tone.  
  
Tc strained to keep a poker face.  
  
'Tell me about the two of you as a couple.' She said spreading her hands out and then bringing them back together like she was trying to push Chris and Tc's chairs together with some unseen force…possibly flower power.  
  
Tc decided to take charge and jumped in before Chris had a chance. 'Well Chris and I met when she joined our unit in the police force. We weren't allowed to have a relationship but did anyway. Then when the lieutenant left I was promoted and we got married. We were together for about a year and a half when the marriage broke up. She came back after I'd been shot, had a car accident and became hooked on pain killers and we've been trying to sort things out ever since.'  
  
Carol sat there nodding rhythmically to everything he said. 'Whose decision was it to go your separate ways in the first place?'  
  
'His.' 'Hers.' They said in unison.  
  
Tc looked over at his wife. 'You left Chris. I never wanted you to go.'  
  
Chris looked miffed. 'You forced me out.'  
  
'When? How? You left because you wanted to be some big shot FBI agent.'  
  
'Ok, well…' Carol tried to intervene but Chris wasn't letting Tc get away with anything.  
  
'Well if I had a chance to improve my career in Santa Monica I wouldn't have left.'  
  
Tc shook his head. 'Are we back to this again?'  
  
'Don't patronize me Tc! You picked someone with and less training over me and you expect me to be okay with it.'  
  
'She's your best friend and she does a great job.'  
  
'I would have done a great job too. I've saved your life often enough.  
  
'I can see that there are still some raw feelings here…' Carol tried again.  
  
'I needed a sergeant who would stay for better or for worse instead of flittering off when it suited her. Much the same qualities I look for in a wife.'  
  
'Is that why you slept with her then?'  
  
'Guys, guys, cool it!' Carol shouted over the fray. Tc and Chris stopped their argument and looked at her. She returned to her normal breezy voice. 'Now I know the two of you are ambitious but things like this take time and bringing up everything at once is not going to help.'  
  
Chris sat back in her chair and huffed. Tc didn't understand why a woman of her age chose to throw a tantrum if she didn't get her own way.  
  
'So let me recap.' Carol folded her hands back in her lap and started with the soothing voice again. 'Chris, you felt she needed to pursue her career and Tc, you didn't want Chris to go. Is that right?'  
  
They both nodded.  
  
'Tc, did you tell Chris you didn't want her to go?'  
  
'Yes. I mean, I think so but she didn't seem to listen.'  
  
Chris rolled her eyes.  
  
'Chris, did you ever think of asking him to go with you?'  
  
Chris did a rather good fish impersonation while she tried to find the right words. 'No but it would mean him choosing between his work and me.'  
  
'As opposed to you making the choice for him.' Carol reiterated.  
  
'He got to keep his career and I got to have mine. It worked out well.'  
  
'For you.' Tc butted in. 'I hated it when you left.'  
  
'Well I hate it when you don't respect me. I hated it when you promoted Cory over me. I hated it when you were so disapproving of me wanting to transfer to the homicide division. I hated it when you tried to hit on me when I was trying to cook dinner.'  
  
Now it was Tc's turn to roll his eyes. Chris saw this and glared.  
  
'That's a lot of things you hate. What about the things you love?' Carol asked, her gaze never leaving Chris as she waited for the answer.  
  
Chris seemed to retreat into herself. 'Well, um…I like that, ah, his dedication to the community?' She said unsurely.  
  
Tc laughed.  
  
Chris sat upright in the chair and looking him square in the eyes. 'Ok, so you try. I'm sure you can do better.'  
  
Tc gave her a sweet smile which unnerved her no end. He leaned forward in his seat. 'I love the way your hair smells after a hard day at work. I love the noises you make in your sleep. I love the sound your feet make on the floor when you walk around barefoot. I love the way you are so strong to protect yourself and those around you but at the same time you're caring and soft and sensitive to those you love.'  
  
'Wow.' Chris whispered to herself.  
  
The room was so quiet she could hear her heartbeat as the seconds past, time that passed all too quickly but felt like it lasted for hours all at the same time. Their gazes locked, Tc could almost read her mind and he knew she was more than blown away by his answer. He also knew she was drumming up an equally compelling answer if she was asked the question again.  
  
'Good answer.' Carol said and Tc nearly hit her for breaking the mood.  
  
'Does this mean you aren't angry anymore for me inviting company over for dinner?' Chris asked hopefully.  
  
Tc shook his head, not to her question but to the conspiracy between these two women that sat before him. They were going to drive him mad!

* * *

Chris walked out of Carol's office with her head held high leaving her bemused and emotionally exhausted husband to follow behind her.  
  
Tc quickly wrote out a cheque and gave it to the receptionist.  
  
As he approached, Chris held the door open for him. 'That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.' She said, mainly to herself. As they walked down the hallway towards the elevator she slipped her hand into his back pocket…and pulled out his keys. 'I'm driving.' She said with a cocky grin.


	4. Men Really Are From Mars

Her hands shook slightly and she programmed the last few controls. It was approximately nine minutes till take off and the crew both in the shuttle and in ground control were doing their final preps.

Months and months of training preceded this mission. She knew her duties inside and out yet was still having to swallow her nerves upon approaching the real experience. Floating in a swimming pool or spinning in circles in a G-force simulator were not going to add up to the actual excitement of taking off, going to space and trekking on Mars. Part of her was screaming to unbuckle herself and run screaming from the shuttle. The other part couldn't wait to get going.

Of course it hadn't just been the last twelve months or so of actual space training. It had been years and years of experience leading up to this. She'd nearly been booted out of the Navy when her jet crashed as a result of a bad instructor. Luckily for her she'd proved the fault was not hers and he'd been given a dishonourable discharge. Even luckier was that no one had died in the accident.

Afterwards she felt like she needed a break. She took leave from the Navy and joined the fire brigade. She'd started there in public relations dressed as a giant apple. Apparently this enormous fruit was supposed to put children's minds at ease as she talked to them about the perils of playing with fire. It was all going fine until one winter's day she was accidentally leaning against a heater air vent in a classroom and her giant apple caught fire.

After that incident they moved Fire Officer Chris Kelly to administration; a job she couldn't loathe more if she tried. But, on the upside, she got her own office and a lovely view of the Santa Monica beach and particularly the volley ball courts where the police officers would play the life guards.

One lunch break she decided to get a little closer to the action. The hot, sweaty, toned and tanned male bodies were just a little too much for her to resist. She sat down on a bench and watched.

When the half time whistle blew the police were in front by five points. One of them jogged over to where she was sitting. She swallowed a huge lump in her throat and he came right up to her.

'Mind if I get between your legs?' He asked.

'What!' She screeched, jumping to her feet. She'd always felt passionately about women's issues, especially those such as sexual harassment. Her blood boiled and her hands were balled into fists. She was just about to punch him in the nose when…

He held his hands up in surrender. 'Calm down. I just wanted to get my bag.' He reached under the seat where she'd been sitting and grabbed his duffel bag.

She turned a bright shade of red. He just wanted his bag.

The officer took out his water bottle and took a long sip before putting his bottle and bag back under the seat.

'Victor Del Toro.' He introduced himself and held out his hand.

'Chris Kelly.' She shook his hand, then tried to be discreet and she wiped off the transfer of sweat from his palm. She didn't succeed.

Instead of getting offended however he'd simply laughed and ran back to join the game.

Later that day she'd been leaving the firehouse and found him standing by her car. Not that she saw him at first. He and her car were shielded by a whopping great black pickup that ended up being his. It was then he asked her out, and to her surprise she found herself accepting despite her concerns about the road-worthiness of his vehicle. He took her to dinner and they'd talked and talked until the restaurant closed. She found out he was the newly appointed sergeant in the Santa Monica police. He also told her that the previous sergeant had strangely disappeared one night. He'd gone home and never returned to work and despite extensive searching, there were absolutely no clues, oh, except strange holes in the beach in front of his house. A homeless man that collected tin cans had theorized that it was the work of aliens trying to access secret government information.

The next few months were mainly spent juggling between working, sleeping and spending time with Victor and the more time she spent with him the more she realized he was a great guy, but not someone she could see herself with for life. And he hadn't taken it well.

The last she'd heard of him was that he was engaged to a woman whose younger brother he'd saved from a gang.

'T minus 31 seconds.' Ground control relayed through the cockpit and their computer network started the automatic launch sequence.

She looked over at her commander and he gave her a reassuring smile. He knew it was her first time as a pilot but he had complete faith in her abilities. He'd seen her work in the flight simulators as well as other areas of training. She was one of the better astronauts he'd had in his command.

Their mission was to fly to Mars and deliver supplies as well as two new astronauts to the research base that had been set up on the planet. There was also a cave that the established researchers had come across he wanted to explore. It was why they were also brining a super powered moon rover along.

T minus 10, 9, 8, 7; the three main engines ignited. The commentary of the rest of the countdown was barely audible over the roaring engines. They watched the numbers on their screens count down to take off when the solid rocket boosters ignited and they were away.

They accelerated quickly, enough so that they did not see the smoke and flames billowing around the launch pad as they took off.

Soon they were travelling comfortably and several minutes later the engines backed off and a minute later than that, they shut down all together as they travelled at 8 kilometres per second and escaped earth's gravity.

Chris watched the external tank separated and burned up over the Pacific Ocean.

Despite the technological advancements in space travel the shuttle would still take 50 days or so to reach Mars. Better than the 100 day trip of previous years. They would spend approximately 14 days on the planet with the other scientists and refuel. They'd discovered a way of turning the rocks of Mars into the fuel source SFF; Space Fossil Fuel. It was also cleaner and lighter so the rockets and shuttles were faster and lighter than any previous design. It had been a major breakthrough. For the last few years a mining program was being put into action to bring raw material back to earth to be put to other uses besides powering spacecraft.

Not that Chris really minded either way. She was here for the adventure, not the science.

* * *

'For god sake Kelly, hurry up. I know the days here are longer but that doesn't mean you get more time to get ready of a morning.' The commander impatiently sat in the moon rover and yelled at her through the microphone in his headset.

Chris ran to the rover as fast as her gravity boots could carrier her. 'Sorry, couldn't find my helmet for a minute there.' Inside the bubble village they lived in there was plenty of air, but little gravity. Chris usually took great delight in taking off her helmet after a mission and watching it float around her quarters. Of course, then it usually ended up in some bizarre places.

'Where was it this time? The fridge again?' The commander said as he started the rover towards the decompression chamber of the bubble village before they could take it for a spin on the rest of the planet.

'No it was in my locker.' She replied and strapped herself in for a bumpy ride. The commander might be a responsible driver back on earth but they didn't have boulder size pot holes there…well, not on all roads.

'Isn't that where it is supposed to be?' He asked.

'Yes sir, that's why I couldn't find it.'

The commander simply rolled his eyes.

'Commander.' Chris called into the darkness. It had been five minutes before his radio crackled out of range. He'd gone down into the cave and there had been funky radio signals ever since. It almost sounded like someone was whispering to her.

She stepped a few feet inside the cave. 'Commander?' She called again. Her only reply was the echo of her own voice inside the cavern. Chris switched on her flashlight and followed the footprints in the dust. They twisted through several different tunnels and just when she thought she was completely lost the footprints stopped. They didn't lead anywhere, they just finished. A chill ran up her spine. Something was not right.

She looked around her. There were a few different tunnels leading from where she was, and wait, was that a light she saw?

'Commander!' She yelled.

'Chris…' She heard her name weakly echoing back to her.

She went towards it. It became louder and louder the further she went towards the light.

The Commander stood there in front of a campfire. Chris approached warily as she knew fire needed oxygen to support it. He turned to face her, his shield down, as she approached and to her horror he took off his helmet.

'No!' She screamed. But it wasn't the commander. A man, or so it seemed, stood before her. Light brown hair falling slightly over his eyes that were so, what, reassuring? There was something about him, besides the green skin.

Chris checked the pressure gauge on her air tank. Was she hallucinating?

'Chris?' The Commander's voice came from behind her. She turned quickly and her boss was standing there looking puzzled at her in the torch light.

She looked back and the mysterious green man and his campfire had disappeared.

'Chris, what is going on?' Her boss demanded an answer.

She just stood with her mouth hanging open and looking back at the darkness. 'Didn't you see him?'

'See who? I saw you rush past me. I called out but you didn't answer.'

'I saw him. He was standing by a fire and he had a space suit like ours. He took off his helmet and his skin was green.' She babbled.

'Green hey? I think we should get you back to the surface and back to base camp. Sometimes it can get a little lonely in space, especially in the dark. I guess you get used to it but your mind can play some great tricks on you.'

Chris sighed and followed the Commander as he retraced their steps back to the moon rover. She didn't care what he though, what she saw was real.

* * *

After many reassurances that she was okay, the Commander finally let her go back down into the cave but never saw the green man again. She never saw anything of interest lately. No water on Mars, no plants, no signs of life at all. Nothing, until...

'Throttle on full, wing flaps up, you're right to ascend pilot.' The Commander read out some of the vital signs of the shuttle to her as they launched back into space for their trip home.

Scientifically it had been a success. Those in the know had collected many a boring rock to bring back to earth for study and the shuttle was loaded with more rocks to make into SFF.

Chris was concentrating hard on flying off the planet when she saw a fire burning on the planet surface outside her window. 'What the…?' She said under her breath. Next to the fire was a figure in a space suit. Again, he took his helmet off, his green skin visible by the light of the fire.

Chris shook her head and looked back. Everything was gone. Again, he'd disappeared and taken his fire with him.

She couldn't believe it. She'd never be allowed to fly a space mission again at this rate.

'Go home Chris.' She thought to herself. 'A long bubble bath and a long chat with a civilian doctor and you'll be fine.' She resisted the urge to giggle evilly.

* * *

Home again.

She'd had a bubble bath and had seen the doctor who said it was most likely a strange reaction to the lack of gravity.

Chris sat at her kitchen table eating rather bizarrely shaped pancakes she'd made and pondered the morning paper. There was a report about the space mission and another about a lost puppy.

She turned the page and nearly choked. Victor was in a picture that took up nearly the entire page. But it wasn't him that shocked her. The man from Mars was there as well.

'Man Found After Months Missing' the title of the article read.

Apparently bush walkers had found Sergeant Tc Callaway of the Santa Monica Police Department. He'd been camping in the bush after being abducted from his home. Tc Callaway had told his colleagues that he was asleep only to awaken to someone holding a smelly rag over his face. He passed out and when he came to he was alone in bush land, not knowing where he was. He relied upon the skills he learned as a child when he was a boy scout. He built a fire and plastered his skin in the sap of the Aloe Vera plant to avoid sunburn and mud to fight off mosquitos. He was able to build a fire to boil water to drink and found a fruit tree that was being used as a banquet for various other mammals.

Chris couldn't believe what she was seeing. To make matters worse, the newspaper hadn't been printed correctly. Victor's side of the photos was in red while Tc's side was in green.


	5. Neanderthal Man

**Neanderthal Man**

His hunger was so strong it has forced him out of his cave and away from his warm fire on this cool morning. Feeding himself had to be one of the more difficult tasks since he left his family tribe. He was a skilled fighter but the game had moved away since the start of winter and locating a suitable animal was becoming harder and harder by the day.

Leaving his family unit was a difficult thing for him. He missed the company and the warm bodies to sleep next to at night. He missed having an extra person or two to help find food and to defend him while he slept but he had already stayed much longer than most men. He had to leave, he had his own tribe to start.

And then he saw his prey – a woman - a feast to fill a different kind of hunger. Not much meat on her but it was winter. Something about her appealed to him. Maybe it was her long blonde hair that was far cleaner than his own. Or her smooth skin that seemed to be free from scratches from branches that he'd received while hunting. Or perhaps it was the sweet humming noises she was making while feasting on berries.

She was rummaging through a bush for the fruit that it bore. She would make an easy target, after all, she was a woman and he was a man. He gripped his club tightly and crept slowly and silently towards her.

He stood directly behind her and raised his club but before he could react she sprang like a wild cat and knocked him off balance. She landed on top of him as they hit the ground and fought him with her bare hands. He tried to grab her but couldn't get a steady grip of her flailing limbs. Then, when he did manage to roll her over to get the upper hand, her knee connected with his stomach. It has startled him enough for her to get up and start running. He was only a few paces behind her and reached for her again. She reached for his fallen club and swung hard…

He woke up some time later and found that he couldn't move. Not only was his head throbbing painfully but his hands and ankles were tied with vines. He opened his eyes slowly, finding it hard to adjust to the light. A fire burned brightly nearby and the glare just made his head throb more. He tried his hardest to thrust the pain aside. He'd have to be strong, he didn't know where he was or if he was in any danger.

He started to become aware of his surroundings. The soft animal skin lying between him and the cave floor, the smell of meat cooking, and a gentle humming sound. He made three realizations rather quickly - one that he was safe in her cave, another that she, a woman, had beaten him over the head and dragged him back to her cave. And the third was that she'd stripped off the skins he had been wearing and he was lying naked by the fire.

She's noticed him stirring and brought over a chunk of meat for him, placing it in his shackled hands. He ate hungrily and wondered how this woman could bring down a large animal such as this, but she'd also beaten him hadn't she.

She finished her meal and left the cave. He wasn't exactly sure where she went but he had a few ideas. Either way, it was time for him to escape. After waiting for a short time to make sure she'd left the area he pulled himself to his feet, awkwardly and painfully, and made a 'run' for the entrance as best he could with his feet tied together.

He wasn't quick enough however. As soon as he'd reached the mouth of the cave she had returned and was not in the least happy that he was leaving. She gave him an almighty shove which knocked him back to the ground, then, grasping him under the arms she dragged him back to his 'bed' skin.

He tried to struggle some more but she sat down on top of him; the feeling of her naked body under her skins sent heat running through his body giving him an instant arousal which only seemed to spur her on more.

She scratched her fingernails over his bare skin, anywhere she could reach, before tangling her fingers in his hair and kissing him with all the ferocity of a wild animal.

He lost interest in trying to free himself. There was little he could with her weight on top of him and his hands and ankles tied. That and he was enjoying himself immensely. Even with his hands tied he managed to force them under her skins and caress her soft skin.

She got the hint and stopped kissing him long enough to rip off her skins and allow him a lingering gaze over her body as she'd done to him whilst he was unconscious.

She'd had been taken by surprise when he'd come for her in the forest. He was stronger than most of the men who had tried to take her. He had nearly won too…nearly. Being pretty and fair had its disadvantages; too much attention from the males. This one however, she could handle. He was a good fighter which means he would make a good hunter, and provider.

She made a command decision. She grabbed a sharp rock and cut away the vines from his hands and feet. He rolled her onto her back and possessed her body. As their rhythm build she just hoped that he would stick around afterwards, after all, he was kinda cute.

After the climax he'd fallen asleep as she had expected. She watched the glowing light from the fire dance across his face and body as they lay snuggled together. She let her fingers trace the curves of his muscles and watched her hand rise and fall on his chest as he breathed. She smiled; very proud of herself at the man she'd chosen. Soon, she too had fallen asleep.

A year or so later and he had stuck around to provide for her and in return she had provided him with a child.


End file.
